The Duty to Inform Before the Loan
A student loan, as a financial service, is governed by the general rules of the Law on Consumer Rights Protection. Article 5 obliges the trader, before the conclusion of the contract, to provide the consumer in the state language, clearly and understandably, with reliable and complete information: the name and essential characteristics of the service, the identity and address of the trader, the price and additional costs, the terms of payment and delivery, guarantees, the duration of the contract and the conditions of withdrawal. For a loan, this means the transparent presentation in advance of interest, commissions and other charges.
Two rules are especially important: first, this information is an integral part of the contract and may be changed only with the express consent of the parties; second, the burden of proving compliance with the information requirements lies on the trader. Where the trader violated the duty to provide information on additional costs, the consumer is not charged the respective additional cost. Recording and keeping all loan terms in writing is the practical application of precisely these rules.
Standard Terms and Their Interpretation
Student loan agreements are often concluded on standard terms. Article 21 defines a standard term as a term laid down by the trader for the consumer, pre-formulated and intended for repeated use. Standard terms offered in writing must be drafted in simple and understandable language, and a term open to more than one interpretation is interpreted in favour of the consumer. Proving that a term was individually agreed lies on the trader.
The Voidness of Unfair Terms
Article 22 declares unfair standard terms void: void is a term that contradicts the principles of trust and good faith and causes an unjustified imbalance of rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer. The law specifically names terms such as the exclusion of liability for damage to health, the exclusion of the set-off of claims, demands of amounts exceeding the loss, unilateral amendment of the contract, determination of the price at the moment of delivery, dispute resolution only in a foreign arbitration and the shifting of the burden of proof onto the consumer — finding any of these in a loan agreement is a ground of voidness. The voidness of a term, as a rule, does not invalidate the remaining parts of the contract.